Road: Gromett wins Active CP Cycles Road Race

On his way back to his form of a decade ago, Julian Gromett (Cottingham Coureurs) dominated Active CP Cycles RT’s inaugural promotion over a new 57-mile course based on Middleton-on-the-Wolds and North Dalton in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The 36-year-old, the South East Midlands division champion back in 2000, broke away on his own on the first of the seven laps, opening up a maximum lead of a minute over the next four laps before he was joined by a group of six chasers, and then clipped off the front again on the penultimate lap as the rest of the race closed in.

“It was a bit of a struggle on the last lap, it was a bit windy and my legs were dying the final time up the hill, but I knew what I had to do,” said Gromett, from Grimsby, who was followed over the line by Dave Shackleton (Wilsons Wheels) and Richard Binks (Clay Cross RT).

“It’s only my second race this year, I was ill after coming back from Majorca and only started training again on Monday, so I’m really chuffed.”

Gromett took a step back some seven years ago because of a blood flow problem and has only raced intermittently since then, but with a new coach in Adam Hardy and changes to the way he trains and his position, he is back as determined as ever.

“I’m putting the effort in and trying to get some form again,” he said. “I’ve entered the Lincoln Grand Prix hoping to get a ride and we’ll see how it goes.”

The course was well received, despite a number of punctures from flints washed on to the roads by recent rain, and commissaire Julie Rodman congratulated the promoting club for a superbly-run first event.

British Cycling would like to thank the organising team, officials and everyone else who helped promote this event. Our sport could not exist without the hundreds of people, many of them unpaid volunteers, who put in many hours of hard work running events, activities and clubs.